Saturday 22 April 2017 21:11, UK
Romania Fed Cup captain Ilie Nastase will play no further part in the World Group II play-off against Great Britain after his abusive comments led to the play-off being suspended.
With Britain's Johanna Konta leading Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 1-2, Nastase became embroiled in a row apparently about noise from the crowd.
Nastase was sent off the court by referee Andreas Egli and, after taking a seat in the stands, was then escorted back to the locker room.
The International Tennis Federation said Egli asked Nastase to leave the court "for unsportsmanlike conduct, having already received two official warnings". The statement also added: "Mr. Nastase was also removed from the grounds due to his serious misconduct."
Nastase's accreditation was removed and the ITF said "he will play no further part in the tie".
The federation had already launched an investigation into racially offensive comments apparently made Friday by Nastase about Serena Williams' pregnancy, while he is also alleged to have made inappropriate comments to Keothavong at a function on Thursday.
In a separate incident on Saturday, Britain's Press Association said journalist Eleanor Crooks was verbally insulted by Nastase for reporting his comments about Williams. Nastase told Crooks: "Why did you write that? You're stupid, you're stupid."
The tirade went on for more than two minutes, the news agency said.
"He repeatedly called me stupid, asked me why what he said was racist," Crooks said. "I explained we simply reported what he said and that it was unnecessary to make such a comment about colour. He said the English were out to get him and called me stupid a few more times.
"Fortunately he was across the other side of the room from me and there were other journalists around so it was unpleasant rather than threatening. But it is certainly not the behaviour you would expect of someone in his position and wholly unnecessary, especially given he did not dispute the accuracy of what was reported."
Romania's world No 5 Simona Halep, who campaigned for Nastase's appointment, acknowledged he "maybe" owed Williams an apology.
But she said: "He's joking all the time and I'm 100 per cent that was a joke. I don't believe that was something bad coming from him but I think it was not respectful a little bit with his comment.
"But we cannot get upset on Ilie, he's like that and he's with us the same."
For those on the move, we will have the Fed Cup covered via our website skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @skysportstennis for news, reports, live blogs and expert analysis with updates on Sky Sports News HQ.
